It looked as if there would be a smooth transition this season from All-American Leigh Tiffin to heralded newcomer Cade Foster, whose strong leg was supposed to give him a foothold as Alabama's starting kicker.

But Shelley put his best foot forward, and now look who is the Crimson Tide's leading scorer as it prepares for a Jan. 1 Capital One Bowl game against Michigan State.

Shelley has made 12 of 16 field-goal attempts and 43 of 44 point-after-touchdown kicks. He leads Alabama with 79 points. Running back Mark Ingram is next with 72 points.

That's quite a contrast to last year when Tiffin led the Tide with 132 points and Ingram added 120 en route to winning the Heisman Trophy. Combined, that was 54 percent of Alabama's scoring.

But scoring actually is up this season. Alabama has averaged 34.6 points per game, compared to 32.1 in its 14-0 national championship season.

Shelley won half of the job in preseason camp, and he and Foster have shared it all season. Foster has made 7 of 9 field-goal attempts and 7 of 7 PATs. Combined, he and Shelley have scored 100 points.

Shelley smiles when asked about the competition between two kickers.

"It was a lot of fun, to be honest," he said. "Me and Cade are good friends. Of course, being good friends, you're still competing with each other.

"I honestly have really loved competing. Last year, with Leigh, of course, he had the spot, but I still competed with him. It has improved both of us tremendously, as far as me and Cade go. It's just really been almost a blessing to push each other and achieve our goals while also working with each other."

In general, Shelley has been called on for shorter kicks. He is known for his accuracy. Foster is known for his long range.

Does Shelley believe he has been a victim of typecasting?

"Maybe, but I don't see it as a bad typecast," he said. "I would be more than happy to be labeled as an accurate kicker."

Shelley's leg might not be as strong as Foster's, but it isn't weak.

"I've hit 51-yarders my sophomore year in high school, probably up to 55," he said of his range. "We're comfortable with the way things are, with me hitting closer range and then with Cade's big leg and big body coming through with some longer ones."

Shelley's longest field goal has been from 42 yards, against Tennessee. He missed a 42-yarder the previous week against Ole Miss. His other misses have been from 31, 25 and 27 yards. The latter two hit an upright.

Foster's longest field goal has been from 49 yards, against Ole Miss. His misses have been from 44 and 54 yards.

Foster was called on for all but one of Alabama's first six field-goal attempts in its first three games, but Shelley kicked exclusively in the next three. His 36-yard field goal with 6:01 left in the game at Arkansas provided the winning margin in a 24-21 come-from-behind victory.

Alabama coach Nick Saban said he is not surprised that Shelley leads the team in scoring.

"I think the freshman guys need time to develop and sort of get their confidence and timing," he said. "Everything speeds up for the specialist. Here you have to get rid of the ball quicker, you have to kick it a little quicker, and I think it takes time for those guys to develop the consistency that they need.

"Cade did a great job for us kicking off. He did a really good job on the long field goals. I think those two guys sort of together did a very good job for us. Jeremy was really consistent from the 25-yard line in.

"But we feel really good to have two quality guys at that position, who both can be very good performers in the future."

The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Shelley was exclusively a kicker at Broughton High School in Raleigh, N.C. The 6-1, 221-pound Foster also played linebacker at Westlake (Texas) Carroll High School. He has made nine tackles (six solo) on kickoff coverage this season.

"It's a huge benefit for us on kickoff (coverage)," Shelley said of his teammate's athleticism. "We have an 11th man down there tackling. A lot of specialists aren't able to do what he's able to do on kickoff coverage. Even in the pros, college, everywhere. Having that in our coverage scheme really helps us a lot."